Pathways of low-income minority patients to outpatient psychiatric treatment.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVE:
Low-income outpatients with scheduled appointments ("scheduled patients") were compared with those who sought treatment without appointments ("walk-ins").

METHOD:
The charts of scheduled patients and walk-ins at an outpatient mental health clinic serving a low-income group were reviewed to determine sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and patients' pathways to treatment.

RESULTS:
Walk-ins (N=241) outnumbered scheduled patients (N=141). The two groups differed significantly in type of presenting complaint and source of referral. A higher proportion of walk-ins sought help with social relationships, while more scheduled patients had complaints involving social performance. Self-referrals were more common among the scheduled patients, and family members were more likely to have motivated the walk-ins.

CONCLUSIONS:
The two groups have more in common than might be expected. Scheduled patients are probably more motivated to seek treatment and therefore more likely to initiate appointments. Walk-ins appear to postpone asking for help until their families urge them to do so.

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Author information

Author/s: Boerstler, Heidi (H); de Figueiredo, John M (JM);

Affiliation: College of Business Administration, University of Colorado, Denver, CO, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: The American journal of psychiatry (Am J Psychiatry), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2003-May; vol 160 (issue 5) : pp 1004-7

Dates: Created 2003/05/02; Completed 2003/06/17; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12727710, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Ambulatory Care - utilization
Ambulatory Care Facilities - utilization
Appointments and Schedules
Attitude to Health
Community Mental Health Services - utilization
Female
Health Services Research

Health Services Research
Humans
Male
Mental Disorders - psychology; therapy
Minority Groups - psychology; statistics & numerical data
Patient Acceptance of Health Care
Poverty - statistics & numerical data
Referral and Consultation

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